Finding Peace After the Storm
by NCISgirl1527
Summary: My take on what happened after the screen went black on Vacation Getaway. It is the team pulling it back together after the Shane Casey affair. Lindsey/Stella friendship. Danny/Lindsey/Lucy family. Mac/Stella friendship. Entire team friendship/family.


_**I started this piece wrote about 500 words and deleted all of it. I then proceeded to rewrite a completely different concept. I think this turned out better than the other one ever could have but I also think that it is pretty good all by itself. It follows the CSI NY season finale. I hope you like it. One bad word...**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own it and do not want to. The current owners are doing a damn good job.**_

_**Spoilers: All Access, Vacation Getaway **_

Lindsey heard Danny's quiet swearing from down the hall and immediately suspected the worse. Silently Lindsey pulled her standard issue weapon out from under her pillow. She crept down that hall and saw Shane Casey holding Lucy and pointing a gun at Danny. None of them had seen her yet but she watched as Shane took the safety off the gun and placed his finger on the trigger.

In that moment nothing else matter to Lindsey. She did not know whether he was going to shoot her husband or her baby girl and she didn't care. She took the safety off her own gun and she pulled the trigger.

Almost in slow motion she watched as the bullet left the gun and sped across the room. Shane did not even have time to move. The bullet hit him in the stomach and he crumpled. Lucy would have fallen to the ground with him, but Danny came to his sense and dived forward to catch his daughter.

Lindsey walked forward towards Shane and kicked the gun out of his hand. Then she reached out her hand to help her husband up. He stood up and pulled Lindsey into his arms. She clung to him and felt Lucy between them comforting her as well. After about thirty seconds she pulled away from him and bent down. Placing a finger to Shane's neck she felt for a pulse. There was one. It was faint, but it was there.

"Danny can you call the paramedics, while I call Stella?" Lindsey asked.

"Of course," Danny replied kissing her on the forehead and handing Lucy to her. He did not question either her wish to have him call the paramedics or her choice to call Stella over Mac. If he was her he would not have wanted to explain what had happened to Mac or the paramedics either. Stella had a tendency to be more understanding.

-0-0-0-0-0-

"You two come with me," an irate Stella said as she stood in the doorway of Mac's office. Mac and Don who had been having a conversation about a recent case.

The two stood up and followed Stella down the hall. Neither one asked her any questions until they were in the elevator. Once the doors on the elevator had closed Stella punched the button for the parking garage. She was going back to punch it again when Mac caught her hands in his.

"Stella," he asked as the elevator started to descend, "What is going on?"

"Casey broke into Danny and Lindsey's apartment and was holding Lucy," Stella explained angrily.

"Shane Casey?" Mac asked surprised, "I though he was dead."

"Yea so did the rest of us," Stella replied angrily, "apparently he can survive falling off a lighthouse."

"That son of a bitch," was Flack's only response.

"Lindsey shot him," Stella told them trying to resist smirking.

Flack didn't bother. "You go girl," he commended Lindsey.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Stella, Mac, and Don all jumped out of the car and Stella ran towards where Lindsay was standing with Lucy in her arms. It was raining but no one seemed to notice.

"Are you alright?" Stella asked Lindsey. She was concerned not only for the younger woman's physical state but her mental state as well.

"I'm fine," Lindsey told Stella, "Well I'm not fine. I'm a mess. I don't even know what I'm saying."

Gently Stella laid her hand on Lindsey's shoulder. "Hey Kiddo," Stella said trying to calm Lindsey down, "It's okay. You're not hurt. Lucy and Danny are okay. You have time to figure the rest of it out."

At that point Mac walked over to the two women and gently put a hand on each of the women's shoulders. Stella and Lindsey both looked up at him. "You two should get out of the rain," he told them with a look at Stella. Stella understood the look to mean that Lindsey also needed to give her statement. Together the three of them walked into the building and out of the rain.

"Lindsey," Stella said as gently as possible, "you need to give your statement."

"Alright," Lindsey replied with a nod, "Can you two watch Lucy? I don't want…"

"Of course," Stella replied and Lindsey handed Stella the baby girl. At that moment Danny appeared and together he and Lindsey walked towards the end of the hall where Don was standing.

Mac and Stella looked down at the little girl in Stella's arms. She was fast asleep, blissfully unaware of what had just happened. Neither one of them had ever had children but they loved Lucy like their own. They both hated the thought that someday she would learn how dark the world could really be. There was no use dwelling on that because inevitably that day would come, but for now she was just their innocent little girl.

Several minutes later Danny and Lindsey returned. Lindsey still looked viably shaken but she also looked better than before. Stella handed her back Lucy and Danny smiled down at his daughter.

"Hey guys," Stella asked the couple, "Are you guys going to be alright? Do you need anything?"

Danny and Lindsey exchanged a look. It was Danny who finally spoke. "Stell, I know this is a lot to ask but could we stay with you for a couple day's," Danny asked, "We could get a hotel or something I just don't want the girls back in the apartment right away."

"Of course you guys can stay at my place," Stella replied, "I have a decent sized guest bedroom and I am sure we can work something out for Lucy."

Mac watched the exchange and registered, not for the first time, that the team had an amazing bond. They were good friends under other circumstances but the worse things got the closer they grew to each other.

"I don't want to see you two at work for a week," Mac told them and when Danny opened his mouth to argue, Mac cut him off. "It's paid leave and you don't get a choice," he told them firmly, "you deserve it." Danny nodded.

"Here is the key to my apartment," Stella told them handing the key to Danny. "You are welcome as long as you like. Any food you can find is fair game. I have a couple things to do with Mac and I will be back later, Okay?"

"Thank you so much," Lindsey told her friend. It was a relief knowing that she did not have to go back into her apartment immediately.

"Don't mention it," Stella responded with a smile, "see you later."

With that she and Mac turned and left the building. They had a few work related things that need to be seen to.

Once their bosses were out of sight Danny turned to Lindsey. "How are you doing baby?" he asked her stroking her cheek with his palm.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Lindsey asked with an attempt at a laugh, "You were the one with a gun pointed at your head."

"Alright," Danny replied, "I'm alright. None of us are hurt and Shane is in the hospital. He can't hurt us anymore. What about you?"

Lindsey shook her head. "It's not supposed to feel good when you shoot someone," Lindsey admitted, "but it does. After all he's done I just… It feels good."

Danny wrapped his arms around his wife and pulled her against him. "Sweetheart, you save my life," Danny reminded her, "It was him or me."

"I know…I don't regret doing it," Lindsey explained, "I just am worried because it feels good."

"As long as it still bothers you, you're okay," Danny comforted her, "It is when you feel good and it doesn't bother you, that you should worry." Lindsey smiled at him. That was just one of his many qualities that she loved. He always knew how to make her feel better.

"You ready to go home?" he asked her.

"No," she told him, "but I'm ready to go to Stella's." She bumped him gently with her hip and he bumped back playfully. Together the two of them walked out of the building towards their car. Lucy was still fast asleep in Lindsey's arms. Somehow they all knew it was all going to be in time.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Mac and Stella got out of the car at the hospital and walked up towards the big brick building. They both looked at each other before the walked in. They both knew this had to be done, but neither one of them wanted to do it.

"Can you give me the status and room number on Shane Casey?" Mac asked flashing his badge.

The nurse looked at a clipboard on the desk then back at Mac. "He is in room 203," she told him, "I don't know his condition." Mac thanked her and he and Stella headed for the elevator. They rode in silence to the second floor, but when they reached room 203 they found it empty. A passing doctor informed them he was not out of surgery yet so Mac and Stella sat down and waited.

"That was really nice of you to let them stay at your apartment," he told her trying to make conversation.

"Their apartment is a crime scene," Stella looked at Mac, "I've been there. It is the worst thing in the world to have the place that is supposed to be your refuge be filled with memories of…" Stella's voice drifted off. Mac knew that she was thinking about Frankie. Instinctively he reached out and took her hand in his own. Stella smiled at him grateful for the contact and added. "You were there for me. I wanted to make sure someone was there for them."

"You are a good friend, Stella Bonasera," he told her with a smile.

"Don't you ever forget that," she told him. They both smiled at each other and then they lapsed into a comfortable silence. Mac's hand did not move from Stella's and they sat there lost in their own thoughts, but enjoying each others contact.

"I think Lindsey and Lucy are the best thing that ever happened to that boy," Stella commented to Mac. "A couple of years ago, Danny would have been out in the field bashing heads together instead of staying home and taking care of the people who need him."

"He has defiantly changed in the past few years," Mac agreed squeezing her hand "but then again we all have."

Stella nodded. They had all been changed by the passing years. It was one of the results of the job. You put yourself at risk everyday and sometimes you truly think you are going to die. In that moment your life flashes before your eyes and you think of just how much you stand to lose. After that you can't look at things in exactly the same way that you did before. If one day you find you can, then it is time to find a new line of work.

Through their trials and tribulations the members of the team had grown stronger both individually and as a group. They would always be there for each other. No matter what happened they would be there.

_**I hoped you enjoyed it. I sure did. I doubt the producers will go there but here's hopin' Please tell me what you think. I would love to know. **_


End file.
